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Optimal mental workload plays a key role in driving performance. Thus, driver-assisting systems that automatically adapt to a drivers current mental workload via brain–computer interfacing might greatly contribute to traffic safety. To design economic brain computer interfaces that do not compromise driver comfort, it is necessary to identify brain areas that are most sensitive to mental workload changes. In this study, we used functional near-infrared spectroscopy and subjective ratings to measure mental workload in two virtual driving environments with distinct demands. We found that demanding city environments induced both higher subjective workload ratings as well as higher bilateral middle frontal gyrus activation than less demanding country environments. A further analysis with higher spatial resolution revealed a center of activation in the right anterior dorsolateral prefrontal cortex. The area is highly involved in spatial working memory processing. Thus, a main component of drivers’ mental workload in complex surroundings might stem from the fact that large amounts of spatial information about the course of the road as well as other road users has to constantly be upheld, processed and updated. We propose that the right middle frontal gyrus might be a suitable region for the application of powerful small-area brain computer interfaces.
Both water scarcity and flood risk are increasingly turning into safety concerns for many urban dwellers and, consequently, become increasingly politicised. This development involves a reconfiguration of the academic land- scape around urban risk, vulnerability and adaptation to climate change research. This paper is a literature assessment of concepts on disaster risk, vulnerability and adaptation and their applicability to the context of studying water in an African city. An overview on water-related risk in African cities is presented and concepts and respective disciplinary backgrounds reviewed. Recent debates that have emerged from the application of risk, vulnerability and adaptation concepts in research and policy practice are presented. Finally the applicability of these concepts as well as the relevance and implications of recent debates for studying water in African cities is discussed. ‘Riskscape’ is proposed as a conceptual frame for close and integrated analysis of water related risk in an African city.
This paper provides an overview of five major shifts in urban water supply governance in relation to changing paradigms in the water sector as a whole and in water-related research: i) the municipal hydraulic paradigm in the Global North; ii) its travel to cities in the Global South; iii) the shift from government to governance; iv) the (private) utility model and v) its contestation. The articulation of each shift in the Ghanaian context is described from the creation of the first water supply system during colonial time to the recent contestation against private corporate sector participation. Current challenges are outlined together with new pathways for researching urban water governance. The paper is based on a literature review conducted in 2015 and serves as a background study for further research within the WaterPower project.